🔐 Lock Grade & Safe Rating Reference
Two industries, two sets of independent test standards, one page. Every ANSI/BHMA lock grade and every UL safe rating below is the exact figure published by the standard — the same dataset that drives the Lock Grade Guide and Safe Rating Guide tools.
ANSI/BHMA door lock grades
A156.5 covers deadbolts; A156.2 covers locksets (knobs & levers) — tested separately, so both sets of figures are listed for each grade.
| Grade | Tier | Deadbolt cycles | Deadbolt strikes | Lockset cycles | Lockset strikes | Lockset strength | Typical use |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 1 | Highest — commercial / heavy-duty | 250,000 | 10 | 800,000 | 6 | 360 lbf | Commercial buildings, high-traffic entrances, and homeowners who want the strongest available protection. |
| Grade 2 | Medium — light commercial / heavy residential | 150,000 | 5 | 400,000 | 4 | 250 lbf | Light-commercial doors and residential exterior doors where good security is wanted at a moderate price. |
| Grade 3 | Basic — residential minimum | 100,000 | 2 | 200,000 | 2 | 150 lbf | Basic residential use — interior doors and low-security applications. |
UL fire ratings (UL 72)
The "Class" number is the maximum interior temperature (°F) the safe holds during the stated furnace exposure — lower means it protects more heat-sensitive contents.
| Rating | Protects | Duration | Detail |
|---|---|---|---|
| UL Class 350 – 1 Hour | Paper documents | 60 min | Keeps the interior below 350°F for a 1-hour furnace exposure (exterior driven to roughly 1,700°F), then survives a cool-down. Paper chars near 400°F, so Class 350 is the paper-document standard. |
| UL Class 350 – 2 Hour | Paper documents (longer exposure) | 120 min | Keeps the interior below 350°F for a 2-hour furnace exposure. The extra hour matters for larger buildings or slower fire-service response. |
| UL Class 150 – 1 Hour | Magnetic media, film & microfilm | 60 min | Keeps the interior below 150°F for a 1-hour exposure. Magnetic tape and film degrade well below paper's char point, so they need this tighter limit. |
| UL Class 125 – 1 Hour | Computer data media | 60 min | Keeps the interior below 125°F and relative humidity below 80% for a 1-hour exposure — the strictest fire class, for diskettes, drives, and other digital media. |
UL burglary ratings (UL 687 & UL 1037)
Measured in "net working time" — only the minutes a tool is actually in contact with the safe count, so a real attack typically takes far longer than the number suggests.
| Rating | Protects against | Net working time | Scope |
|---|---|---|---|
| UL RSC (Residential Security Container) | Opportunistic burglary with common hand tools | 5 min | Hand-tool attack |
| UL TL-15 | Tool attack on the door | 15 min | Door only |
| UL TL-30 | Extended tool attack on the door | 30 min | Door only |
| UL TL-30X6 | Extended tool attack on all six sides | 30 min | All six sides |
| UL TRTL-30X6 | Tool and torch attack on all six sides | 30 min | All six sides (tools + torch) |
Which rating actually matters for you
| Situation | Look for |
|---|---|
| Home exterior door | Grade 2 deadbolt minimum; Grade 1 for the best available protection |
| Interior door (bedroom, closet, pantry) | Grade 3 is fine — it's the residential minimum, not a red flag |
| Commercial entrance / high-traffic door | Grade 1, no exceptions — it's built for the cycle count |
| Home safe for paper documents (passports, deeds) | UL Class 350 (1-Hour is the common minimum, 2-Hour for extra margin) |
| Safe storing external drives or backup media | UL Class 125 — paper-rated safes run too hot for digital media |
| Home safe for cash or jewelry, opportunistic burglary risk | UL RSC burglary rating, paired with a fire rating if it also holds documents |
| Business or high-value safe, determined-attacker risk | UL TL-15 or TL-30; TL-30x6 if the safe isn't bolted into a wall or floor |
FAQ
Is a Grade 1 lock always better than a Grade 2 lock?
For raw strength and durability, yes — Grade 1 survives more cycles and more forced-entry strikes than Grade 2 in both the deadbolt (A156.5) and lockset (A156.2) tests. But Grade 2 is a genuine, code-legal choice for a typical home exterior door; Grade 1 mainly buys extra margin and is required for most commercial entrances.
Does a UL burglary rating mean a safe can never be opened?
No. TL-15 means it withstood 15 minutes of an attacker's tools actually touching the safe ("net working time") in UL's test, not that it's impenetrable. Every rating on this page describes how long a safe delays a specific attack, not whether it defeats one forever.
Can one safe carry both a fire rating and a burglary rating?
Yes, and most home and small-business safes do — the two ratings are independent, tested to different UL standards (UL 72 for fire, UL 687/1037 for burglary), and a single safe is commonly certified to both, e.g. a UL RSC burglary rating paired with a UL Class 350 1-Hour fire rating.
Where do the numbers on this page come from?
Directly from the same dataset that powers the interactive Lock Grade Guide and Safe Rating Guide tools on this site, sourced from the published ANSI/BHMA A156.2/A156.5 and UL 72/687/1037 standards. Nothing here is estimated or AI-generated.
My lock or safe doesn't list any of these ratings — what does that mean?
Unrated hardware wasn't submitted for independent testing, which isn't automatically disqualifying for low-stakes use (an interior closet door, say) but means you're taking the manufacturer's word for its strength. For an exterior door or anything protecting valuables, a certified rating is worth paying for.
Related tools & guides
- Lock Grade Guide (ANSI/BHMA) — filter grades by your exact use case
- Safe Rating Guide (UL Fire & Burglary) — filter by fire, burglary, or both
- What lock grade do you actually need for a front door?
- UL fire rating vs. burglary rating: which safe do you actually need?